The on-again off-again referendum over whether or not Clinton shall annex property adjacent to I-75 in the Bethel community will go forward, following Chancellor William Lantrip’s ruling yesterday.<\/p>\n
At the last County Commission meeting, Commissioners approved a new “master settlement agreement,” wherein the County would share in the portion of tax revenues that would ordinarily be allocated to Clinton. A couple of years ago, Clinton had offered such a settlement, but the County’s rejection and continuation of legal action resulted in a major retail developer walking away from the deal.<\/p>\n
Recent statements by Clinton officials indicate that the city is no longer willing to cut a deal.\u00c2\u00a0 The five-year moratorium on annexation in the growth plan has expired, and there seems to be little reason for Clinton to deal.\u00c2\u00a0 After years of litigation, who could blame them?<\/p>\n
The News Sentinel reports<\/a> on views from lawyers on both sides:<\/p>\n Yeager on Monday argued that Clinton couldn’t have it both ways; that the city can’t seek annexation both by growth plan changes and by a referendum.<\/p>\n “There’s no pressing need for a referendum before Clinton votes on growth plan amendments,” Yeager said.<\/p>\n Clinton’s attorney, Dick Jessee, countered by saying the urban growth plan’s five-year moratorium on annexation by referendum has ended, and Clinton can legally follow that route.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n The interesting part of the story, however, is found in Commissioner David Bolling’s blog<\/a>:<\/p>\n A motion was made to file the injunction, it tied and thus failed, and I actually thought that progress had won the day. That was, of course, before Doug Haun realized that he was confused and had voted wrong in his opposition to the injunction. Now, I respect Commissioner Haun, and normally would have believed that someone could honestly vote wrong by mistake. However, when I see Rex Lynch point at someone across the room and say “I need to see you outside”, which he did to Doug, and then see Doug come back in moments later wanting to change his vote, I don’t see a simple mistake, I see a shady political maneuver.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Sigh.\u00c2\u00a0 Three and a half more years, unless something really interesting happens in between.<\/p>\n How much more might we accomplish if the County actually worked with<\/em> the cities for growth, rather than posturing on turf?<\/p>\n The on-again off-again referendum over whether or not Clinton shall annex property adjacent to I-75 in the Bethel community will go forward, following Chancellor William Lantrip’s ruling yesterday. At the last County Commission meeting, Commissioners approved a new “master settlement … Continue reading <\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"